Houston athletes Simone Biles and C.J. Stroud nominated for 2024 ESPYS

Wednesday, June 26, 2024
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The 2024 ESPYS nominations are here, and two Houston athletes made the list!

The ESPYS are ESPN's annual celebration of all things sports, during which top athletes are crowned in a variety of categories. This year, tennis superstar Serena Williams is the host.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is nominated for "Best Breakthrough Athlete" and Houston-native Olympic gymnast Simone Biles is nominated for "Best Comeback Athlete."

Stroud, who is only 22 years old, was selected by the Texans with the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

He made waves in his first NFL season, throwing for more than 4,100 yards and 23 touchdowns, leading the Texans to the AFC South title.



Earlier this month, Biles won her 9th U.S. Championships gymnastics title ahead of the Paris Olympics.

The win sparked a conversation about Biles' big Olympic comeback after she made headlines when she withdrew from the team final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She suffered from a disorienting condition gymnasts call "the twisties," when an acrobat's mind and body feel dangerously out of sync.

You can watch the ESPYS live on July 11 at 7 p.m. on ABC13.

Full list of nominees:

Best Athlete, Men's Sports
  • Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
  • Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels / Los Angeles Dodgers
  • Scottie Scheffler, Golf
  • Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers


Best Athlete, Women's Sports
  • Caitlin Clark, Iowa Women's Basketball
  • Coco Gauff, tennis
  • Nelly Korda, golf
  • A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces


Best Breakthrough Athlete
  • Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
  • C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
  • Juju Watkins, USC Women's Basketball
  • Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs


Best Record-Breaking Performance
  • 49ers Christian Mccaffrey scores a TD for a record-breaking 17 straight games
  • Caitlin Clark becomes NCAA's all-time scoring leader, breaking Pete Maravich's record
  • Tara Vanderveer, Stanford Women's Basketball - Gets 1,203rd win to pass Coach K for most by any coach in NCAA basketball history
  • Max Verstappen wins record 10th consecutive race with victory at Italian Grand Prix


Best Championship Performance
  • Michigan's Blake Corum and Will Johnson, 2024 College Football National Championship MVPs
  • Kayla Martello, Boston College Women's Lacrosse
  • Midge Purce, NJ/NY Gotham FC - NWSLChampionship MVP
  • Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics


Best Comeback Athlete
  • Simone Biles, gymnast
  • Paige Bueckers, University of Connecticut Women's Basketball
  • Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns
  • Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans


Best Play
  • Jayda Coleman calls game sending Oklahoma to their 4th-straight championship (6/4/24)
  • Anthony Edwards dunk of the year (3/18/24)
  • Alabama scores on 4th & 31 to win Auburn (11/25/23)
  • Lamar Jackson caught his own pass & ran with it (1/28/24)


Best Team
  • South Carolina Gamecocks, NCAA Women's Basketball
  • Kansas City Chiefs, NFL
  • Michigan Wolverines, NCAA Football
  • Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
  • University of Connecticut Huskies, NCAA Men's Basketball
  • Oklahoma Sooners, NCAA Softball
  • Boston Celtics, NBA
  • Florida Panthers, NHL
  • Texas Rangers, MLB


Best College Athlete, Men's Sports
  • Jayden Daniels, LSU Football
  • Zach Edey, Purdue Men's Basketball
  • Ousmane Sylla, Clemson Soccer
  • Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame Lacrosse


Best College Athlete, Women's Sports
  • Haleigh Bryant, LSU Gymnastics
  • Caitlin Clark, Iowa Basketball
  • Sarah Franklin, Wisconsin Volleyball
  • Izzy Scane, Northwestern Lacrosse


Best Athlete with a Disability
  • Jaydin Blackwell, World Champion Sprinter
  • Ezra Frech, World Champion High Jumper
  • Brenna Huckaby, Snowboarding Champion
  • Oksana Masters, Cross-Country Skier/Hand Cyclist


Best NFL Player
  • Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
  • Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
  • Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
  • Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers


Best MLB Player
  • Ronald Acuña , Atlanta Braves
  • Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
  • Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
  • Corey Seager, Texas Rangers


Best NHL Player
  • Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
  • Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers


Best NBA Player
  • Luka Doni, Dallas Mavericks
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Nikola Joki, Denver Nuggets
  • Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics


Best WNBA Player
  • Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
  • Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
  • Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
  • A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces


Best Driver
  • Ryan Blaney, NASCAR
  • Matt Hagan, NHRA
  • Álex Palou, IndyCar
  • Max Verstappen, F1


Best UFC Fighter
  • Islam Makhachev
  • Sean O'Malley
  • Alex Pereira
  • Zhang Weili


Best Boxer
  • Terence Crawford
  • Seniesa Estrada
  • Naoya Inoue
  • Oleksandr Usyk


Best Soccer Player
  • Aitana Bonmatí, Spain
  • Naomi Girma, Uswnt
  • Vinicius Junior, Brazil/Real Madrid
  • Kylian Mbappé, France/Real Madrid


Best Golfer
  • Nelly Korda
  • Xander Schauffele
  • Scottie Scheffler
  • Lilia Vu


Best Tennis Player
  • Carlos Alcaraz
  • Novak Djokovic
  • Coco Gauff
  • Iga Swiatek
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